Satya Nadella

TIME 100 2015 Satya Nadella
Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images

The turnaround artist

Satya Nadella is setting Microsoft up for greatness again. For decades, Microsoft had controlled the software world, but its grip slipped with the rise of mobile and cloud technologies. Though a longtime employee, Satya brought a fresh and almost revolutionary perspective to the CEO job, breaking with the past by building for new platforms first. In his short but impactful tenure, he has focused on driving openness where Microsoft was once closed, even when it has meant supporting competing services in the process. Changes that once would have been considered blasphemous—releasing open-source software, building on iOS and Android and even making Windows free in some cases—are turning Microsoft around. Satya is basically the star of one of those teen movies where the parents go out of town and the kid takes control of the place. And it’s been great.

Levie is the CEO of Box

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